Frederick Miller | |
|---|---|
 Miller in an undated photograph | |
| Born | Friedrich Johannes Miller (1824-11-24)November 24, 1824 |
| Died | May 11, 1888(1888-05-11) (aged 63) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Known for | Miller Brewing Company |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 4 sons, 2 daughters |
Frederick John Miller (November 24, 1824 – May 11, 1888) was a German-Americanbrewery owner inMilwaukee,Wisconsin. He founded theMiller Brewing Company at the Plank Road Brewery, purchased in 1855.[1][2][3][4] He learned the brewing business in Germany atSigmaringen.
He was bornFriedrich Johannes Miller[5][6] inRiedlingen in theKingdom of Württemberg. Some German records, like the one about the baptism of his first son Joseph Eduard, also state the name as Müller.[7] Since the end of the 20th century, some publications state Miller's name as "Frederick Edward John Miller" from which they derive the birth name "Friedrich Eduard Johann(es) Müller".[8]
Miller married Josephine Müller inFriedrichshafen, Württemberg, on June 7, 1853.[9] Their first child, Joseph Edward Miller, was born the next year.[7] In 1854, the family emigrated to theUnited States, spending the first year inNew York. They moved to Wisconsin in 1855, arriving throughNew Orleans.[10]
Josephine died in April 1860 and Miller married Lisette Gross and had five children who survived infancy: Ernst, Emil, Frederick II, Clara, and Elise. Clara married Carl A. Miller (no relation), also a German immigrant.[10]
Frederick Miller once owned a tract of land in theUpper Peninsula of Michigan that is nowCraig Lake State Park.
Miller died ofcancer in 1888 at age 63, and was buried in theCalvary Cemetery in Milwaukee. Following his death, the company was run by his surviving three sons and son-in-law Carl.[10]
Miller's younger daughter Elise was the mother ofHarry G. John (1919–1992), president of the company from 1946 to 1947 and founder of theDe Rance Corporation, once the world's largestCatholic charity.[11]
Older daughter Clara's sonFrederick C. Miller (1906–1954) was anAll-Americancollege football player atNotre Dame underKnute Rockne and became president of the company after John in 1947.[12] He and his 20-year-old son Fred, Jr., were killed in a plane crash in Milwaukee in 1954.[13] The nine-passenger twin-engine company aircraft was a convertedLockheed Ventura. It was bound forWinnipeg for a December hunting trip atPortage la Prairie;[14] the crash also killed the two company pilots, brothers Joseph and Paul Laird.[15]
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